Rapid Fire
by Audrey T
Summary: So I look up into his face, ready to say 'no' 'cause I don't smoke, that's Becca's thing, and I'm met by these dark intense eyes and brows so deep his father must be Cro-Magnon. And I'm not sure I'll ever be able to talk right again.
1. Chapter 1

So I'm stuck here on a Friday night while Becca and Jake enjoy the new warmth and extra daylight almost-summer brings. I sit in my room and scritch-scratch a pen against this paper to finish this fucking English Lit. essay that's due on Monday while Billy stands guard at my door 'cause I'm this family's only hope. And right now, it's okay. It's okay that I'll have to spend tomorrow typing this up at the local library since we can't afford a computer on Billy's disability checks or my shitty babysitting gig, because a couple of months from now, when I'm finally done with this high school shit, I'll be off to college clear across the country. I'll be the first Black to leave this town alive and when I do – when I pack my stuff and high-tail it out of here – I sure as hell won't be coming back. No matter what anyone says, it's just not possible there's anything out there in the 'real world' that's worse than this.

But as I try to focus on this essay, all I can think about is getting out of my room and bumming around the beach for a while with Beccs and Bells and escaping the sound of 'Dad's stupid wheels!' squeaking against the hallway floor. So when my cellphone buzzes against my desk, it's like divine intervention from some god. Bella's name flashes across the screen and I'm more than happy for the distraction I know is headed my way.

And of course, Bella's laughing. She's giggling in this nearly irritating soprano, and I know that laugh, it's strictly reserved for James. With him being around so often, usurping all her free time, I've come to know it too well. And even though I desperately want out of my house and away from Billy, I'm not sure I want it bad enough to put up with James and the weird version of herself Bella becomes when she's around him. But then I hear the sound of Dad's chair again and then I'm thinking that I should at least hear her out.

They're down at First Beach, she says, just hanging out on the broadwalk for a while and Becca's promised to meet them soon. She says my brother's out there chasing after chicks with his silly little friends and some older guys too. She says it looks like the older guys might be heading in for some trouble and that maybe I should come out and make sure they don't pull him in. I know it's mostly a ruse, that I'll go out there and Jake'll be doing his flirting with freshmen thing and Becca'll be bumming a cigarette off one of Jake's friends, but Bella's always known how to push my buttons and she's just managed to punch every single one of them. With Becca and Jake out at the pier, and Jake with his new older crowd, and Becca with her usual not-so-good crowd, and Bella with James and his just-below-the-skin sleeze, I'm just not gonna get any work done anyway with all the worry that'll replace the focus. So I just save myself the trouble and save Bella the breath and tell her I'll see her in a few. And when I get there, I see that I was mostly right. Becca's just flinging around a frisbee with Bella while James watches from a nearly safe distance, and Jake's huddle around a makeshift bonfire with the usual crew but I can also see a few other guys I know are probably too old to be hanging around high school sophomores.

So I call out to them, saying Embry's name instead of Jake's so he doesn't feel too much like his sister's checking up on him, and Embry, of course, turns his head lightening-fast and before I know it, he's jogging across the sand and hoisting me up with my waist against his shoulders. And of course, I'm laughing like a little kid, because that's just how Embry has always made me feel, and letting him carry me over to their little circle. '_Hey,__Quil.__Jake,_' I say, and Jake just mumbles a greeting but Quil's like Embry, likes to show off, so he slings his arm over my shoulder and then locks my head between his elbow and armpit before mussing up my hair and letting me free. By the time I've set myself straight and finger-brushed my hair back into place, most of the excitement's died down and they're mostly back to doing whatever it was they were doing before I came along. I take a seat on a battered piece of driftwood nearest the fire and lean in a little to warm my freezing fingertips, and while I'm doing that, I try to get a feel for the other guys that are hanging around.

When I do, I see that Leah Clearwater's there. She smiles in recognition when she sees me, quirking an eyebrow since it's not my usual scene; not hers either. I just shrug and tilt my head in Jake's direction, and she does the same, using her eyes to point to her little brother Seth whose attention is wrapped around some football glory story Jake's telling. She's sitting up against one of the older guys, and I raise an eyebrow at her when his hand trails across her knee, and soon she's excusing herself and shuffling across the sand to meet me.

'_Jared_,' she says by way of introduction, '_He__graduated__a__couple__of__years__ago.__You__remember?_' I just shake my head, my face burning a little 'cause I had bigger worries than senior boys at the time, and of course, she presses. '_Y'know,__he__was__on__the__football__team__with__Paul__and__Sam..._'

And that's a name we both recognize.

Leah and I aren't really close, but I know her well enough to know she doesn't get embarrassed for anyone else, she lacks the empathy, so the red in her cheeks is all her own and has little to do with mine except that it's centered on the same guy. The one who changed my life in a big way but barely brushed hers, so it's a little irritating that she's even affected by the mention of his name at all.

But we try to get past it, past the small awkwardness that's crept in and trying to burrow deeper. So I ask her what he's doing 'round here, and she takes it. She says he's back home for summer vacation, that he goes to some school up north on scholarship. And I say, '_Football?_' 'cause he's bigger than a Buick, and she nods, grinning like a cat, and says, '_Lineback._'

While we're sitting and talking, and she's telling me about how huge her end of the year party is going to be this year, now that we're seniors, a guy just as tall as Jared but maybe only half as wide, sidles beside her. He only nudges her shoulder but she sways like she's been hit and then he's mumbling something about '_want_' and out of the corner of my eye, I can see he's holding a box of cigarettes out to her. She takes one and then he's shifting his arm so the pack's pointing at me and I find that I can barely speak. The only thing coming out of my mouth is a low drawling '_uuuuhh..._' and _thank__God_he can't hear me with all the noise around us. So I look up into his face, ready to say '_no_' 'cause I don't smoke, that's Becca's thing, and I'm met by these dark intense eyes and brows so deep his father must be Cro-Magnon. And I'm not sure I'll ever be able to talk right again.

But Bella saves me, her voice breathy and uneven when she says '_Rachel__doesn't__smoke,_' and when I turn to look at her, she's on James' back as he gallops around in the sand and bounces her up and down a little. And when I turn to look at that guy again, he's already gone, catching fire on the end of a twig and using it to light the long white stick resting between his lips.

'_Paul_,' Leah says by way of introduction, smiling like she knows some big secret.


	2. Chapter 2

**Rapid Fire**

_Twilight :: Rebecca x Paul :: Romance – Teen :: AU – All Human_

**Chapter 2**

The next week drags by like slow death and even so, it's filled with event.

School's nothing more than papers and testing and I'm usually okay with that, but Becca's been so out of it lately that I've got to cover all her work on top of mine; and with the weather so warm and football season over, Jake's gotten restless, so although he's hardly ever home, the phone's constantly ringing with nearly every girl in La Push trying to get a hold of him; and then there's this thing with Bella's bruised eyes and swollen nose and James isn't around so I just know it's got something to do with him but she won't talk; and Billy's so busy with Mrs. Clearwater - who we're supposed to call 'Sue' - that he doesn't notice a damn thing.

So, like always, it falls on me to keep everything together. And while Becca sleeps off whatever she did last night, and Jake runs around town with Embry or Quil, and Dad's out with the Clearwaters teaching Sue's son to fish, I'm at home facing the pile of bills that have accumulated on the kitchen counter.

I open the bank statement first, making sure last month's checks haven't bounce and Billy's disability has been accurately deposited, and thought I know it'll be the same as always, I'm hoping maybe there'll be a little something extra this time. But of course, there isn't.

Once I'm sure everything's as it should be, I get to the bills. I don't even glance at the words, I just look for the totals at the end of the gas and water bills. And of course, despite my warnings, Jake's still leaving every light in the house on no matter what he's doing and Becca's still drowning herself in hour long showers every day. With a sigh, I just fill the checks – enough so that neither gets turned off again – imitate Billy's signature, and stuff 'em in their envelopes.

I open the car insurance bill, sift through all the bullshit papers that are stuffed into the huge manila envelope, and check to see how many more payments we have this cycle. Even though we're only insured to cover Billy and I as drivers, it's still an obscene amount, more than the other bills combined, but it's the one we certainly can't afford to ignore or push away until later. So I write the check I know Billy can't cover and resolve to visit the bank later to transfer money into his account so it doesn't bounce. In the end, I know I'll have to take on a few extra shifts with Newton and lean on Jake and Becca a bit harder for gas money and hope things pick up at the bait and tackle shop so Billy can take up a few shifts too.

Before I leave, I spend some time banging on Becca's door until I hear the bed creak and her muffled groan, and then I phone Embry to get a hold of Jake, and when I do, he tells me the car's been shaking and cutting off - he thinks it's the battery or something - and the silence that follows must sound desperate 'cause soon Jake's saying, "S'okay, Rache. I know someone who can take a look at it," and then I'm making plans to pick him up. I don't even care who this 'someone' is and I don't even ask Jake if he's sure about this guy, and it's either because I trust that he understands we can't afford this or if it's that I just want to believe he can somehow make this work. And maybe it doesn't matter.

By the time I get to Embry's place, the surge of frustration's almost suppressed. Though I can still feel it pushing against the pit of my stomach, it's no longer threatening to bubble out in tears and sobs. I press the horn just once and it's not long before Jake comes bounding down the front stairs, Embry on his heels. The windows of the car are down to let in the fresh air and as Jake climbs in the front seat, Embry's tugging at my hair and leaning in on my side. "Drop me off Lynn's," he says. He's already hopping into the bed of the truck, but I don't recognize the name so I turn to Jake and he says she's some new girl Embry's seeing and her place is on the way.

Turns out '_Lynn's_' is only a few blocks down and in a couple of minutes, Embry's jumping out and banging the truck's side to let us know he's gone. The rest of the ride is fairly quiet, with only the sound of Jake occasionally giving directions, but as we're stopped at a red light, I can tell Jake's just itching to say something - his knee's bouncing up and down and his fingers won't quit tapping against the door - so I just say, "What?" and then he's biting the edges of his fingernails. So I say again, "What is it, Jake?" and this time I try to sound more concerned than irritated.

He asks if I'm okay. Says, "Everything alright?" and what do I tell him? I ask him why he's asking, and he just shrugs and says I look more on edge than usual, and I guess I do.

"I'm fine," I say, and we both know I mean '_Things could be worse_,' and we both know things _could_be worse. "Just stressing over finals and stuff. Still haven't heard back." And Jake, even though he can be a smarmy, whoring brat, knows exactly what 'stuff' I'm stressing and exactly who I'm waiting to hear back from, so he doesn't press it. He just says, "I'm sure you'll get in," and I smile but now I'm do a little finger-nibbling of my own 'cause it's not a matter of 'getting in' but whether or not I can afford to go.

"Who's this guy anyway?" I ask so he doesn't continue to prove how perceptive he really is, and Jake looks at me like I've just appeared out of thin air. "The car?" I remind him. He says Jared works summers at some garage and he's sure we can work something out. So I say, "Leah's Jared?" and Jake sort of just snorts at me and shrugs and says, "I guess."

When we get to the garage and pull up in front of it, Jake gets out and jogs into the open entranceway to talk to the guys huddled around an old Wrangler I know must be Bella's. Though we're lucky enough to have Jake to fix most minor repairs on our truck, Bella's only got Renee and Renee's, well, Renee, and I doubt she even knows how to pump her own gas.

I watch as Jake talks with Jared, hands folded over his broad chest in the way he always does when he's being serious, and when he points to the car and Jared turns to look, I wave a small hello and decide that maybe it's time I stop hiding in the car.

As I'm getting out and preparing for the short drop to the ground, Jared and Jake walk towards me, both smiling and laughing in this easy camaraderie I can't help but envy.

"Hey," I say as I close the door behind me and lean against it.

"Jake says it's giving trouble?" Jared leans over the side of the car, picking at the stickers on the glass so he can see the inspection date and when I'm due for an oil change. I tell him it's taking more than a few tries before the engine catches and sometimes it really shakes – more than just a little vibration – and that I'm not sure it's the battery at all. He gives me this look, this look that sets my teeth on edge 'cause it means '_Little girl, what do you know about cars?_' and I know the answer is '_Absolutely nothing._' So I just shrug and let him have his look under the hood.

He tinkers around for a while, with Jake and some other guy looking over his shoulders, and when he finally comes up, there's smudges of black on his fingertips he just wipes away with a kerchief hanging from his pocket. He says he's not sure what it is, but it's probably something to do with sparks or cheap gas and a choked up filter. I don't know what any of that means, and I honestly don't care, I just need to know if it can be fixed and if it can be done without burning a hole in my pocket. Jared seems to sense my panic growing and with a smile that makes me a bit more understanding of Leah's admiration, he tells me it's not so bad. He tells me to pull it into the garage so 'we' can do some diagnostics and figure out the damage. So I do.

Once I pull my car into under the roof and turn off the engine, the door is opened and I giggle a little at the thought of Jake acting like anything that even resembles a gentlemen and I say, 'Thanks,' in a tone layered in sarcasm and probably unwarranted annoyance. But when I turn to step out, I see Jake isn't the one leaning against the open door or extending his hand to help me out. It's all calloused fingers and deep brows and honey-warmed eyes punctuated by a fading smile and pinched expression approaching sour.

"Sorry. Sorry," I mumble, as blood rushes beneath my skin. "Thought you were Jake."

Paul just smiles and though it reaches his eyes, his eyebrows are still knitted either in confusion or tenacious annoyance.

"Sorry," I say again, and slip past him, my shoulder brushing his chest 'cause he doesn't move an inch.


End file.
